The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure. Accordingly, such statements are not intended to constitute an admission of prior art.
Cellular devices communicate with cellular communications networks, such that data including voice communication, text messages, and other graphical and/or audio content can be transferred over the networks. A short message service (SMS) messages or text messages are used to communicate messages to a user of a cellular device.
A cellular communications network can include a client switch receiving information and transmitting that information to any of a number of cellular service vendors that provide connections from the cellular communications network to individual consumers. In one exemplary transaction, a message can originate at one person's device and be sent to a server. The server can communicate the message to a cellular communications network. Based upon a destination associated with the message, the message is routed by a client switch to a particular vendor, which locates the intended recipient's device and delivers the message to that device. The same transaction can be operated in reverse. A number of variations of such a process to generate, send, and deliver a message are known in the art and will not be described in detail herein.
SMS messages can be used in advertising and marketing, for example, with a company paying to have a number of messages sent to a group of consumers. Efficacy of a SMS messaging marketing campaign can depend upon a number of factors. One factor includes proper operation of the communications network, the vendors, and successful delivery of the message to the intended consumer recipients.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2011/0223945 A1, herein “Bhatnagar,” discloses a system to send a text message to one a plurality of users based upon their geographical location. Bhatnagar, in FIGS. 3-7 and related discussion, is focused upon converting the message into a particular format for each of the service providers in each of the geographical areas. The Bhatnagar device is disclosed to be able to send the marketing message, including a graphical user interface that shows a user different vendors/suppliers for a particular geography and allows the user the ability to select the supplier of their choice to send the SMS message. Bhatnagar does not disclose certifying the operational status of each cellular service vendor based upon a received status confirmation. Bhatnagar does not disclose generating a computerized display output describing the operational status of each of the cellular service vendors. Bhatnagar does not disclose allocating marketing resources based upon operational status for each of the cellular service vendors.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,114, herein “Alperovich,” discloses an SMS messaging system. According to the disclosure, a system includes a way to schedule sending an SMS message according to priorities set by the sender. It also allows the receiver to sort these messages according to the priorities set by the sender.
Both Alperovich and Bhatnagar rely on performance of the mobile network operator to function and confirm the delivery of the SMS message and would have no indication whether their service was not working correctly due to bad performance from their supplier. Both fail to provide the necessary statistics required to monitor performance and determine a descriptive quality of service for particular service vendors.